Othello under the stars is a wicked summer delight: EW review
When I love thee not, chaos is come again.
Under the setting sun and, on a clear night, the evening stars, the Public Theater’s telling of Othello begins with a stage that is bare but for rows of symmetrical arches suggestive of a Venetian piazza: Order elegantly framing the chaos soon to be unleashed in the mind of our doomed hero, who speaks those fateful words.
Othello (Chukwudi Iwuji), at first so besotted with his bride Desdemona (Heather Lind), will be led to his undoing by a deliciously manipulative Iago (House of Cards‘ Corey Stoll). Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s confidently unfussy staging, and many of the performances by a cast that includes several Public Theater regulars, are a thrill to witness. Those warm stone arches (scenic design by Rachel Hauck) are timeless; the lush costumes (by Toni-Leslie James) — gold and brocade for the women, laced leather for the men — feel appropriate to the early 17th century, the period when Othello was first performed.
As a spirited if somewhat unfocused Desdemona, Lind does her best work late in the play, after those dark clouds overtake her husband’s mind, when she seems to know her time is up. Notable in this assured cast is Alison Wright (The Americans) as Emila, Iago’s wife, who speaks up for Desdemona, though belatedly. (Were this an updated telling, perhaps they’d find the hashtag #BelieveWomen helpful here, much as Romeo and Juliet might have benefitted from texting.) But, alas for them — and happily for us — this is a traditional take on the Moor, with all the trimmings, including clanking choreographed sword-fights to make Inigo Montoya cheer, and at least one death scene that, even though you know it is coming, takes you by surprise. A
